Twiggs

Formed December 18, 1809 (37^th county)

Twiggs County (8,023), Jeffersonville (976)

The dark red brick Romanesque Revival style county courthouse was built in 1903.  Renovation was completed in 2003.  James Wingfield Golucke and Company are the architects.  It is at the intersection of Magnolia and Railroad streets in Jeffersonville.  United States Highway 80 is one block south of the courthouse.  It features a tower with a working clock and veteran memorials are on the grounds.  The county was created on December 18, 1809 from Wilkinson County as the 37^th county.  Marion was the first county seat until 1868 when Jeffersonville became the county seat.  Revolutionary War General John Twiggs provided the name for the county.  President Thomas Jefferson is the inspiration for the county seat.  He also provided his name for Jefferson County and the county seat of Jackson County.  Twiggs County was the birthplace of 1 Georgia Governor, James M. Smith.  The county center is 8.9 miles West of Jeffersonville nearer Bullard. 

Twiggs County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Fifteen Superior Court Judges serve Twiggs, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Bleckley, Candler, Crisp, Dodge, Dooly, Emanuel, Greene, Hancock, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Laurens, Montgomery, Morgan, Pulaski, Putnam, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Washington, Wheeler, Wilcox, and Wilkinson counties and Five County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Twiggs County (judicial.) Twiggs County is in central Georgia immediately southeast of Macon, Georgia.  The geographical center of Georgia is 18 miles southeast of Macon in the county.  The Ocmulgee River forms its western border.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Wilkinson, Laurens, Bleckley, Houston, Bibb, and Jones counties. 

The area of the county is 360 square miles.  It is 72 out of 159 counties in the state.  It ranks 139 out of 159 in population in the state.  It has a density of 22.3 persons per square mile making it 137 out of 159 in the state.  Twiggs County has 14.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 16 enters the county from the southeast, Laurens County, and heads northwest, Bibb County.  United States Highway 80 parallels Interstate Highway 16 from Laurens to Bibb counties.  United States Highway 129 Alternate goes north to south from Bibb County to Bleckley County.  The county is shaped like a fat small letter d tilting back.  Jeffersonville is in the eastern third of the county.  Jeffersonville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 12.2% of the county population.  This county is in the Macon Metropolitan Statistical Area.